An unnamed woman was bitten twice by a blue-ringed octopus, which contains one of the most dangerous neurotoxins on the planet, but she escaped relatively unharmed.
一位未透露姓名的女性被一隻，具有地球上最危險神經毒素之一的藍環章魚，咬了兩次。不過，她相對上無恙地避開了。
圖1. 藍環章魚具有一種，被稱為河豚毒素、小劑量即可致命的強烈神經毒素。 (圖援用自原文)
Blue-ringed octopuses contain a powerful neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin, which can be lethal to humans in small doses.
A woman in Australia was recently bitten multiple times by a blue-ringed octopus — one of the world's most toxic animals — and lived to tell the tale.
澳大利亞的一名女性，最近被藍環章魚(世界上毒性最強的動物之一)咬傷多次，且活著講述此故事。
Blue-ringed octopuses are a group comprising four species: the greater blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata), the southern blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa), the blue-lined octopus (Hapalochlaena fasciata) and the common blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena nierstraszi).
藍環章魚是由四種物種組成的一個群體：也就是，大藍環章魚 (Hapalochlaena lunulata)、南方藍環章魚(Hapalochlaena maculosa)、藍紋章魚 (Hapalochlaena fasciata)及普通藍環章魚(Hapalochlaena nierstraszi)。
These octopuses are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and are covered in tiny rings that flash with an iridescent blue when the animals are threatened. Blue-ringed octopuses also contain tetrodotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin that can paralyze and kill humans even in small doses.
此些章魚小到足以放在手掌中，且當此些動物遭到威脅時，身上覆蓋著，閃爍彩虹藍的微小環。藍環章魚也具有一種，即使小劑量也能癱瘓及殺死人類的強烈神經毒素─河豚毒素。
On March 16, the woman was bitten twice on her abdomen by an unknown species of blue-ringed octopus at a beach near Sydney in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.
於3月16日，該女性於澳大利亞新南威爾士州(NSW)靠近雪梨的一處海灘，遭一種不詳的藍環章魚物種咬其腹部兩次。
She had collected a small shell while swimming, and when she picked it up to look at it, the tiny cephalopod fell out and landed on her stomach, the NSW Ambulance service wrote on Facebook.
新南威爾士州救護車服務部門，在Facebook上寫道，她游泳時收集到一個小貝殼，當她撿起查看時，該小頭足類動物掉出來，且落在其腹部。
The woman experienced some abdominal pain and was treated with cold compresses before being taken to the hospital to be monitored for more symptoms, according to NSW Ambulance. It is unclear why the woman escaped relatively unharmed.
根據新南威爾士州救護車服務部門的說法，該名女性經受了一些腹痛，在被送往醫院接受更多症狀的觀察之前，被以冷敷治療。為何該名女性相對上無恙地避開了，目前不清楚。
Tetrodotoxin stops nerves from signaling to muscles by blocking sodium ion channels. This causes rapid weakening and paralysis of muscles, including those of the respiratory tract, which can lead to respiratory arrest and death.
河豚毒素藉由阻斷鈉離子通道，來阻止神經向肌肉發信號。這導致肌肉(包括呼吸道肌肉)迅速衰弱及麻痺，這會導致呼吸停止及死亡。
The effects of tetrodotoxin can occur rapidly or have a delayed onset, so death can occur anywhere between 20 minutes and 24 hours after the toxin enters the body, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
根據美國疾病控制暨預防中心(CDC)的數據，河豚毒素的影響會迅速發生或延遲發生。因此，在毒素進入人體後，死亡會在20分鐘到24小時內的任何時間發生。
There is no known antidote for tetrodotoxin. All health care practitioners can do is provide supportive care or use a ventilator if patients are unable to breathe, according to the CDC.
沒有已知的河豚毒素解毒劑。根據美國疾病控制暨預防中心的說法，倘若患者無法呼吸，醫療照護從業人員們能做的是，提供支持性的照護，或使用呼吸器。
Blue-ringed octopuses do not create tetrodotoxin themselves. Instead, the toxin is produced by symbiotic bacteria that live in their salivary glands, according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
藍環章魚本身並不產生河豚毒素。根據澳大利亞海洋科學研究所的說法，這種毒素反而是由，生存於它們唾液腺中的共生細菌所產生。
Tetrodotoxin is found throughout the octopus's tissues, not just in specific venom glands, which makes them some of the few animals that are both poisonous and venomous. It also means that a person can receive a lethal dose if one of these octopuses touches their skin.
河豚毒素在章魚的整個組織中被發現，不只是在特定的毒腺中，這使其成為為，有毒兼有分泌毒素，為數不多的動物。這也意味著，一個人會蒙受致命劑量，倘若此些章魚之一，碰觸到其皮膚。
Despite being so toxic, blue-ringed octopuses have caused only three confirmed deaths, according to WebMD.
根據美國一家公司的網路醫生網站WebMD的報導，儘管是很毒，不過藍環章魚僅曾造成，三件經證實的死亡。
圖2. 藍環章魚閃爍其彩虹色的環，來警告捕食者其毒性。(圖援用自原文)
Blue-ringed octopuses flash their iridescent rings to warn predators of their toxicity.
The iridescent blue rings that flash on the octopuses' bodies warn predators of their toxicity. They can flash their rings in less than 0.4 seconds, thanks to tiny color-changing organs called chromatophores, which are dotted across the animals' skin.
於章魚身體上閃爍的彩虹藍環，警告捕食者其毒性。由於散佈在此些動物皮膚上，被稱為色素細胞的微小變色器官。它們能在不及0.4秒的時間內，閃爍其環。
While blue-ringed octopuses rarely kill people, there have been plenty of close calls. In 2006, a 4-year-old boy was almost killed after being bitten by an octopus he picked up in a rock pool on a beach in Queensland.
儘管藍環章魚很少致人死亡，不過也曾有過多次險些死亡的事例。於2006 年，一名4歲男孩，於昆士蘭海灘一處岩石池中，在被一隻他拾起的章魚咬傷後，差點喪命。
The boy vomited several times before developing blurred vision and then losing control of most of his muscles, according to a case report published in the journal Clinical Toxicology. After spending 17 hours on a ventilator, he eventually made a full recovery.
根據發表於美國《臨床毒理學》期刊的一份病例報告，這名男孩在出現視力模糊前，嘔吐了幾次，然後失去了其大部分肌肉的控制。在花了17個小時，使用呼吸器後，最終完全康復。
And in March 2021, a woman was heavily criticized online after sharing a video of herself holding a blue-ringed octopus in Bali, although she did not know it was highly toxic at the time and escaped unscathed, according to Insider.
根據消息靈通人士的說法，在2021年3 月，一位女性在網上分享了一段，自己在巴厘島，抓住藍環章魚的視頻後，受到嚴厲批評。雖然當時，她並不知道，這是高度有毒的，而未受傷害地避開了。
Blue-ringed octopuses aren't the only animals that contain tetrodotoxin; it can be found in some newts, frogs and puffer fish.
藍環章魚並非唯一具有河豚毒素的動物。在一些蠑螈、青蛙及河豚中，也能發現它。
網址：https://www.livescience.com/blue-ringed-octopus-one-of-the-most-toxic-animals-on-earth-bites-woman-multiple-times
翻譯：許東榮
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